County court judgment- parking fine

[Ansumpasty]

Any advice would be great, please!

Woke up today to a letter through my door from the Debt Collection Bailiffs.
It says: ‘Notice of Debt Recovery- Unpaid County Court Judgement £343’

I had no idea what this could possibly be for or why. I’ve put in the reference number and it’s come from a parking company and the car reg is my car from 5 years ago??? The name of the car park is somewhere I only remember visiting once, around 5 years ago, for a pub lunch. I remember paying for parking as it was a private car park.

I have never received any parking fine or anything from a court. I did move house a year and a half ago, so something may have gone there…but was in the same house 5 years ago up until then.

Both the Debt Collection Bailiffs and the name of the parking company (Civil Enforcement LTD) are closed until Monday and I’m getting myself in a state worrying about it.

What should I do besides call them on Monday and ask for a date?? Will this really destroy my credit score even though this is the first I’ve ever heard of this??

Help 😔

Ok slow down because I think this is in a bit of a muddle. Why would you need a date? The court date will have come and gone, you were found against in your absence and now this is enforcement of the judgement.

If you look on Moneysavingexpert forums you will find great detail from knowledgeable posters who know this system inside out (it’s called “robo claims”) and they have loads of very helpful advice on how to potentially challenge it. Idk if it will help so long after the fact but they might find something.

Are you sure you definitely paid for parking? I couldn’t remember that 5 years later for any given day. Can you find a bank statement proving this? You might be able to get it all re-examined in court if you can provide proof of payment but the good people on MSE can advise best.

Here you go op, their forums have lots of advice too: www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/private-parking-tickets/

I’m starting to even wonder if this is a scam or something. If bailiffs could find my address, why can’t the courts? Why wasn’t I told about the parking fine for years while living at my old address? It all doesn’t make sense

Thank you. I remember giving my toddler to my step mum to take inside the pub while I paid. That’s even if that’s where it was!

I don’t even know which court they took me to- I now live on the opposite side of the country!

I mean a date of when I was supposed to have parked in this car park, which is 8 hours from where I live. I haven’t had that car for years now, so I’m also wondering if it’s possible the car garage I sold it to have messed up the paperwork and this is someone else’s fine? It’s so many years ago, so I don’t understand why I wasn’t told about it in the 4 years that followed, before I moved house

www.gov.uk/county-court-judgments-ccj-for-debt/cancel-the-judgment

I’d contact the court that issued the CCJ before speaking to the bailiffs. Bailiffs have heard every excuse in the book and they’re wanting to just get the payment and the parking enforcement company wiped their hands of it a long time ago. If you speak with the courts then the bailiff once you know what you’re doing. This shows the importance of updating all your records or paying for a postal redirection when someone moves.

It doesn’t mention which courts- how would I find that out?
I did a postal redirection for 3 months and updated all my records 🙁

My son received a parking fine for a car that was written off by the insurance company. Obviously it was sold on by the garage but the registration was not changed. Fortunately at the time of the incident he was living in Spain so it was easy to prove. However, if he had not had a system set up for his mail, he could well have been in the same situation as you, OP.

Check your credit rating/score. It will be on there. I think you have X number of days before it totally screws you up for 6 years (same happened to me I paid it immediately but had no idea it had gone to court in the first place.
Although I paid it and it was removed from my credit file it still impacted on my credit score as I found out when I went to finance my cars.🤬🤬🤬
Wouldn't mind but I was parked legally in the first place as I had an appointment at the business I was fined at!

I think they're all Northampton iirc

Your first post stated that the debt was an unpaid CCJ so I would contact my local county court first or if you know where the parking enforcement company are based, the county court there. I don’t know about county court but in the magistrates court if you are convicted and you had no knowledge of the hearing taking place you swear a statutory declaration, everything gets cleared and the case re listed to give the defendant a chance to represent their case. I’m sure there must be a county court equivalent.

Don't panic! I had a similar letter but from a council demanding money or a trip to court for an accident I'd apparently had in my car which knocked over a street light.

I live 300 miles from where this was supposed to have happened.

Anyway, turns out the police who attended the accident wrote the registration down wrong and I got the letter. I was able to prove it wasn't me and it all went away.

Similar happened to my son. He got a speeding ticket and fine because someone cloned his plate. He proved it as he had a black box fitted which showed he was at home and not doing 90mph on the M25.

So is this something that could have happened to you OP? Did you sell the car on? Have the new owners not registered it? Has your plate been cloned? I'm sure you can sort it out on Monday, try not to worry until then.